JaktUpCues
Registered
not to hi-jack, but what about butt wood? can you turn a square down to spec on a forearm/handle in one sitting without worry of warping?
Schedule for shaft wood.
- Thread starter seahorse1877
- Start date
Tap tap tap.
Word!
Last edited:
Excellent post, Paul. Long aging is always best if you have time.
FWIW stress relieving case-hardened wood is nothing new, nor is it a process unique to shaft maple. Anyone who has read "Dry Kiln Operator's Manual" (unfortunately, another one of those liberal-biased "govmint" publications, lol) can see that this has been done in commercial kilns for a long time. The entire publication should be in every woodworkers library. It can be downloaded for free here:
http://www.esf.edu/scme/wus/documents/DryKilnOperatorsManual.pdf
Ironically, case-hardening is more associated with air-dried lumber than with kiln-dried, and if it is not severe enough to create internal damage to the wood, it goes away in time all by itself. It takes years, though, not weeks or months. Stress relieving wood by injecting air at high relative humidity into a kiln is just a shortcut way to get the drying stresses out of the wood. It is not in any way superior to letting the stress get relieved over many years of seasoning, but it does put a useful product out for sale in a much shorter time, alleviating the need to store wood indoors for extended time periods.
Personally, when it comes to the integrity of any wood, I'll take careful air-drying and years of seasoning over instant gratification. I have several beautiful curly bigleaf maple planks that were cut for guitars. They came to me partially air-dried, and a bit case-hardened. They are over 10 years old now, and no sign of case-hardening is left. I have stashes of Adirondack red spruce that are over 25 years old, and curly maple planks that are nearly fifty years old (given to me by a friend who got them from the widow of an old gunstock maker). I'm sure all traces of case-hardening is gone from these woods, but there will still be growing stresses in them. Kiln treatments do not relieve growing stresses, they are locked right into the grain and structure of the wood.
Many things can lead to growing stresses, including growth on slopes, differential lighting, crowded growing conditions, genetics, etc. I once cut a large cherry tree that was leaning out from a bank a little bit. As soon as I hit the pith, that thing barber-chaired on me the entire 60' length of the trunk in one explosive thunderclap as all the growth stress in the truck were released in an instant. The sound made me scramble about 30' away in a heartbeat, with my saw still idling in the kerf, and me with a nasty brown stain in my boxers. At least half the splitting was done for me.
BTW Paul I read your bio on your website and noticed we both have a background in biology. Many folks who have never studied science don't trust it because they don't understand how science really works. For someone to read the article I first referenced as a study on "Ponderosa pine" is way off the mark. As I'm sure you know, scientists don't have to look at every possible combination known to man to extract accurate data from their experiments. In fact, that approach almost always leads to experimental confounds that generate false data rather than better data. In short, the study was a study in finishes, not the substrate upon which they were applied. Using Ponderosa pine or Doug fir is quite common in studies like these, and in no way does this mean the results cannot be generalized to all wood if the experimenters know what they are doing. These guys really know their stuff, and would never makes claims that were dubious, nor would they title the publication "Protecting WOOD from Humidity" if it only applied to a single species like Ponderosa pine.
Regarding the use of sealers, I admit I am not yet a cue maker, so I can't speak from personal experience. However, in the Hightower book he mentions that Nelsonite may have a negative effect on the hit of the cue. He feels that is worth living with if it yields more straight and stable shafts. I feel differently. All I want to do is to learn to make great playing cues, not collectors items. If I lose 50% of my shafts due to warpage, that is well worth it if the final product plays better. JMHAVIO. YMMV.
Now I'm out of here, and when I say I'm out I really mean it. So y'all have a great Memorial Day weekend.
Paul,
That's all good and well but I would much rather drive a newer vehicle than one from the 60's from a safety standpoint. That being said, things evolve and better themselves. Sometimes it's good to keep up with the new. Stress-relieving is fairly new to shaft wood although sometimes know-it-all's mention that stress relieving has been around for awhile. Perhaps so but not in the shaft wood industry. It does make a difference and produces better wood. If staying in the 1960's works for you, then by all means stay there. I'm a strong proponent for anything that works well for you.
I'm sorry you had to resort to stating that I need to "open my ears listen and learn" . Perhaps you should practice what you preach. I've turned more shafts in one day than you probably have in your entire career so let's not go there about learning. And just in case you would like to know how many shafts I've turned in one day, it's about 1,200 - 8 racks of approximately 140 shafts each. Do the math.
Have a nice day.
:speechless::rotflmao1:
I have a taper shaper and a cnc saw machine(if I ever get it put together)
Jerry McWorter uses a non cnc saw machine
Ariel Carmelli has a machine similar to a taper shaper.
Hightower has saw machines.
Joe Barringer has a very nice 4 or 5 headed cnc.
Joeyincali made something that resembles the Terminator.
I haven't heard a single bad word spoken about Unique's Taper Shaper. It just works...
Jerry McWorter uses a non cnc saw machine
Ariel Carmelli has a machine similar to a taper shaper.
Hightower has saw machines.
Joe Barringer has a very nice 4 or 5 headed cnc.
Joeyincali made something that resembles the Terminator.
I haven't heard a single bad word spoken about Unique's Taper Shaper. It just works...
You might as well turn that saw machine to manual.
At least you get it going already.
Come see Terminator. I should have the new vfd/spindle on it by then.
Oh, see the ugly shafts. So ugly your eyes will pop.
Bring some of yours at 13.25MM and let's compare density and stiffness.
Mine come from Idaho I think. Trees there live happy. None die of heart attack.
Last edited:
It isn't going because I haven't worked on it. Everything works, I am just having a hard time drilling holes in my cabinet saw...... I think I might put it on a contractor...
cncrned_ctzen
Registered
Wow. I learned a lot. Thanks!